Although various methods for producing hydrogen bromide are known, a method for reacting bromine gas and hydrogen gas is industrially used. For this reason, usually, hydrogen bromide production facilities are provided with an evaporative gas generating device that heats and evaporates liquid bromine to generate evaporative gas of the bromine, supplies the obtained bromine gas to a reactor, reacts the bromine gas with hydrogen gas, and produces hydrogen bromide.
In order to efficiently produce the hydrogen bromide in such hydrogen bromide production facilities, it is always necessary to stably supply a fixed amount of bromine gas to the reactor. Accordingly, it is necessary to control the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine in the evaporative gas generating device.
In the related art, generally, a method for adjusting the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine depending on the intensity of the heat applied to the liquid bromine or heating time in the evaporative gas generating device is used. For example, a method for repeating switching on and off a power source of an electric heater that heats a container in which the liquid bromine is accommodated, thereby adjusting the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine, is used.
However, in the method for repeating switching on and off the power source of the electric heater to adjust the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine, the amount of the heat applied to the liquid bromine is not easily kept fixed, and there is a concern that a minute fluctuation may occur. Therefore, a minute fluctuation occurs also in the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine, and it is not easy to always generate a fixed amount of bromine gas to stably supply to the reactor.
For example, if the technique described in PTL 1 is used, it is possible to control the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine approximately constantly. However, even if it is possible to constantly control the amount of evaporization of the liquid bromine, there is a concern that the temperature of the evaporative gas of the bromine may fall in the process of being sent from the evaporative gas generating device to the reactor, and the evaporative gas may be liquefied (condensed). If the liquefaction of the bromine gas occurs, there is a concern that the amount of the bromine gas supplied to the reactor may become less than a desired setting value.
Therefore, in order to prevent the liquefaction of the bromine gas, a technique (hereinafter referred to as “post-superheating”) of turning the evaporative gas into superheated steam in the process of being sent from the evaporative gas generating device to the reactor is known. For example, there is a technique of sending the bromine gas from the evaporative gas generating device to a post-superheating device installed between the evaporative gas generating device and the reactor to heat the bromine gas, and supplying the bromine gas to the reactor after raising the temperature of bromine gas, or heating a pipe that sends the bromine gas from the evaporative gas generating device to the reactor, thereby preventing the liquefaction of the bromine gas in the process of being sent from the evaporative gas generating device to the reactor.